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The Over Wintering Project

What do the lizards do during the winter?

First, we tried to make a habitat for the horny toads that looks like a normal wheat field. We dug and raked the weeds out of the school's garden. Then we got a box made of boards with screen to go over the top.

The box was 18 inches square and the sides were 10 inches high.

We discussed the box design with the second graders. Some of them thought we should put screen on the botom in case the horny toads burrowed down and out. We also decided to put a screen on the top to keep cats out.

It took a lot of hammering and mesuring to get it made.

Some of us dug an 18" square hole in the garden. It was 12 inches deep.

We filled one corner with rocks like a "scab patch" area in a field and filled in everything with dirt.

Next, we measured the size of the horny toads. Both of them were 7 cm. Then we weighed the horny toads. One was 2 grams, the other was 2.5 grams. Then we placed the horny toads in the box.

June, 2000 - Update
When the snow melted, we looked for the horny toads. One horny toad was found dead, 20" below the box and the other was missing. We have some theories on what happened.

  • "I think the cage was too close to the school roof, because the snow fell off the roof and smashed the cage. I also think that they should have put something like wood instead of screen over the top because a cat might have gotten one." Chris Behrle
  • Kaitlin, Kendra, Kasey, Matt, David, Casey and Morgan felt "Move the box further from the school, put a wooden top shaped like an upside-down V and make the cage more deeper and bigger."

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